Heater for towels



y 1969 J. G. KNAPP HEATER FOR TOWELS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 171967 J52 Z/ 72 [0 71' (Id 77225 Gordon (la 7m July 22, 1969 J. G. KNAPPHEATER FOR TOWELS 2 Sheets-Sheei 2 Filed March 17, 1967 for.

3,457,389 HEATER FOR TOWELS James G. Knapp, West Chicago, Ill., assignorto Knapp Design Associates, Inc. Filed Mar. 17, 1967, Ser. No. 623,942Int. Cl. F2711 11/02 US. Cl. 219448 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSUREA heater for towels having a series of parallel, spaced electricallyheated plates adjustably mounted on a vertical support member. A towelis heated by placing it between adjacent pairs of plates. Alternatively,the' electrically heated, spaced plates take the form of shelves in acart or stand. The temperature of the electrically heated plates ispreferably controlled by a rheostat or bimetallic strip thermostat.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The business of lodging and serving thetraveling public is keenly competitive, and to attract travelers totheir establishments, various hotels and motels offer and advertiseluxury items or services not found in the average home. Often a serviceor item which is considered and advertised as a luxury is so wellreceived that it soon is found in almost every home, for example, airconditionin-g. Recently, many lodging places have installed sunlamps inthe bathrooms for their guests. The lamps give a healthful suntan andalso promote drying and warmth of the body after a shower.

While a sunlamp has proven to help do away with some of the chillinesscommonly experienced when stepping from a warm shower, a warm towelwhich makes direct contact with the body is more satisfactory and offersgreater comfort.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In a principal aspect, the present inventioncomprises a heater for towels constructed from a plurality ofelectrically heated, horizontal, parallel, rectangularly shaped plates.The plates are separated by approximately the thickness of a singlefolded towel. The plates may be mounted cantilever fashion on a singlevertical support member or they may comprise the shelves in a tableunit.

Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improvedheating unit for towels.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improvedheating unit for towels which may be mounted on a wall or may beincorporated into a table unit.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an improvedheater for towels which may be adjusted to accommodate towels of varyingthicknesses.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a temperaturecontrolled heater for towels.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a compact,inexpensive heating unit for towels.

These and other objects, features, and advantages of the presentinvention will be more easily understood by reference to the drawingsand detailed description which follow.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of aheating unit for towels mounted on a single vertical member;

FIGURE 2 is a cross-sectional view of a heating plate takensubstantially along the line 2-2 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a cross-sectional view of the heating unit takensubstantially along the line 33 of FIGURE 2;

3,457,389 Patented July 22, 1969 DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTFIGURE 1 shows the folded towels 10, 11 and 12 positioned betweenadjacent pairs of horizontal, parallel, rectangularly shaped andelectrically heated plates 14 through 17. The plates 14 through 17 areattached, as will be more fully described later, to the verticalstructural support means 20. Electrical resistance heating units withinthe plates 14 through 17 are connected to an external electrical powersource. Preferably, an on-off switch 24 and a rheostat 26 are utilizedto turn on and control the power input to the heating units. Anindicator light 28 is illuminated when the heater is being operated.

The plate 14 having the electrical resistance heating rod or unit 30 isof a typical construction. The plate 14 is comprised of an upper panel'32 and a lower panel 34 which are stamped in a generally rectangularshape from a highly conductive metal such as aluminum. The edges of theupper panel 32 and the lower panel 34 are crimped downwardly andupwardly respectively so that when the panels 32 and 34 are joined theydefine the plate 14 having a hollow space 13. The circular shape of theheating rod 31) in combination with the rectangular plate 14 permitsheat to radiate outwardly from the periphery of the rod so that atemperature gradient is established with the outer edge of therectangular plate 14. Thus, the edge of the plate 14 is sufiicientlycool even during higher operating temperatures of the heating unit 30 sothat one may touch the outer edge of the plate 14 without being burned.Furthermore, the circular shape of the heating rod 30 establishes aneven temperature having very little gradient within the interior of thecircle defined by the heating rod 30. Thus the temperature within thecircumference of the heating rod 30 is substantially constant and warmenough to heat the towel 10; whereas, the temperature gradient aroundthe periphery of the heating rod 30 to the edge of the plate 14 allowsthe edge of the plate 14 to be sufficiently cool and not causediscomfort upon contact.

As an alternative means to further assure that there will be nouncomfortable contact with the plate 14, the peripheral bar or boundaryprotecting means 36 extends from the vertical structure 20 about thecircumference of the plate 14. Plate 17 has a similar circumferentialbar 3 8 which is supported by a plastic clamp member 40 attached to thefront edge of the plate 17. As another alternative, a plastic insulatingstrip 42 is attached directly to the edge of the plate 15 to preventdiscomfort upon touching the edge of the plate 15.

FIGURE 2 illustrates the positioning of the heating rod 30 in the hollowspace 13 defined by the upper panel support end 48 of the heating rod 30and coacts with fastener means on the opposite side of the verticalsupport member 20 to firmly hold the heating rod 38 and its supportedplate 14 in position.

A cylindrical well 50 is drilled in the rear of the vertical supportmember 20 in order that a fastener 52 may be suitably positioned to matewith the end 48 of the rod 30. The end 48 of the rod 30 is threaded sothat the fastener or nut 52 may be screwed onto the end 48 of the rod 30thereby securely positioning the rod 30 in place on the vertical support20.

In the alternate construction of the plate support and conducting means,the plate 15 has the heating rod 22 contained completely within theinterior space 60 within the plate 15. The upper panel 62 of the plate15 has its rear edge 64 extended downwardly and is attached by fasteningmeans 66 to the support member 20. An electrical conducting wire 68connect the heating rod 22 to the power source.

FIGURE 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the attachment of theheating plate 14 showing the rod 30 having its ends 48 and 49 insertedthrough the openings 44 and 45 in the vertical member 20 and fastened inposition by means of the nuts 52 and 53 screwed on the ends 48 and 49respectively of the rod 30. The vertical support member 20 has a pair ofchannels or grooves 54 and -5 on its rear side. Electrical terminals 56and 57 connect .to the ends 48 and 49 of the the heating rod 30 andconnecting wires 58 and 59 pass through the grooves 54 and 55 to theexternal electric power source. The grooves 54 and 55 are verticallyaligned to interconnect the ends 48 and 49 of heating rods with the endsof other plates with electrical connecting terminals which are insertedthrough the vertical support member 20.

FIGURE 5 illustrates the attachment of the plate to the vertical supportmember 20. The rod 22 is positioned entirely within the plate 15 and isconnected by electrical wire leads 68 which pass through the opening 69in the member to an external power source. The bolt 66 is attached tothe downwardly extending edge 64 of the top panel 62 of the plate 15attaches the plate 15 to the vertical member 20.

Also illustrated in FIGURE 5 is a bimetallic strip 70 which, when heatedabove a predetermined temperature, depending upon the characteristics ofthe strip 70, will separate the contacts 72 and 74 thereby breaking thecircuit and shutting off the power to the heating rod 22. Having abimetallic temperature control in each plate insures uniformity oftemperature in .all the plates. This is important since, for example,the plate 15 and 16 and towel 11 in FIGURE 1 on the interior of thetowel heater will retain heat better than the exterior plates 14 and 17and exterior towels 10 and 12. Thus, utilizing a bimetallic stripcontrol will cause the power to be off in the plates 15 and 16, butstill be on in the plates 14 and 17 thereby insuring a constanttemperature on both sides of all of the towels 10 through 12 and savingpower costs by turning off the overheated plates 15 and 16.

Alternatively the components of the heater for towels may be matched sothat more delicate control means such as the bimetallic temperatureswitch are unnecessary. For example, in a four plate unit of the typeshown in FIG- URE 1 having support and connection means of the typeshown in FIGURE 4 with the plates being approximately 9 /2 inches by 7/2 inches, 1.96 watts of power should be supplied to the heating rod ineach plate for approximately five minutes to heat a towel from roomtemperature (70 F.) to 130 F. In such a construction the heating rodsare connected in series and will maintain the temperature of the towelsbetween 120 to 150 F.

FIGURE 6 illustrates an alternative embodiment of a wall unit. Theheating rod 76 with its permanently attached washer 78 is slidablymounted in a slot 80 in the vertical support member 82. The threaded end84 of tthe heating unit 76 has a lock washer 86 and a nut 88 securelytightened to hold the heating unit 76 in position firmly against thevertical support member 82. The distance between the plates and 92 maybe adjusted by loosening the nut 88, sliding the heating unit 90 in theslot '80 to the desired position and retightening the nut 88.

FIGURE 7 illustrates the recessed grooves 88 and 89 which house the rearor threaded ends 84 and 85 of the heating rod 76. The permanent washers7'8 and 79 which coact with the lock washers 86 and 87 and the nuts 88and 89 to hold the heating rod 76 in a non-slidable, substantially fixedposition are also shown. The recessed grooves 94 and 95 are advantageousin this construction since they allow the vertical support member '82 tobe mounted flush against a wall without interference from the wires 83.

FIGURE 8 illustrates another embodiment of the present invention. Thetrays 96 through 99 each contain heating rod-s (not shown) which areelectrically activated to heat the towels 181 and 102. The trays 96through 99 are supported and separated from one another by the legs 104through 107. The support member-109 serves as the electrical conduitmeans through which electric wires are run to connect with the heatingelements (not shown in the trays 96 through 99). A plug-in electricalwire 111 connects the external electrical source to heating unit leadwires in the vertical member 109. Wheels 113 increase the mobility ofthe cart shown in FIGURE 8.

Advantageously, the heater for towels of the present invention may beutilized as a storage area for towels when not being used to heat thetowels. Likewise, the mobility that may be achieved through the wheeledcart embodiment makes the invention ideally suited for use in hotels,restaurants and athletic clubs. Further, the eco nomic and simpleconstruction of the invention suggests domestic applications thatpreviously were not available.

While in the foregoing there has been described a preferred embodimentof the present invention, it is to be understood thatg those embodimentsobvious to those skilled in the art are to be included within the scopeof the claimed invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A heater for towels comprising, in combination, a single verticalstructural member for attachment to a vertical wall, at least tworectangularly shaped, horizontal, parallel, spaced plates, each of saidplates comprising an upper and a lower panel of a heat conductivematerial fitted together to define a hollow space therebetween,

each of said plates having a substantially circular elec-- tricalresistance heating unit therein, support means for attaching each ofsaid plates one above the other to said vertical structural member, eachadjacent pair of said plates being spaced a vertical distance from oneanother whereby a folded towel may be inserted therebetween, acircumferential protective boundary material around each of said platesto prevent contact with the edge of each plate, and electricalconducting means for connecting said heating unit to an externalelectrical power source, said conducting means including means forcontrolling power input to said heating units and also includingtemperature responsive means for disconnecting said heating unit fromsaid power source.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said conducting and support meanscomprise integral electrical conducting and support extensions from eachof said plates, said extensions passing through and fastened securely tosaid vertical structural means such that said extensions support saidplates and conduct electrical power to said heating unit within saidplates, said conducting means also including lead wire means from saidextensions to said external electric power source.

3. The combination of claim 1 wherein said support means is adapted toprovide adjustable spacing between adjacent pairs of said plates.

4. The combination of claim 1 including a resilient bar movablyresponsive to temperature internal each of said plates for actuatingcontact means to open and close the electrical power circuit to each ofsaid heating units.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 5 3,245,337 4/1966 White et a1.219-442 3/1957 Burger 219541 2/1937 Des Jardins et a1. 219-510 6 FOREIGNPATENTS 838,042 5/ 1952 Germany. 477,751 5/ 1936 Great Britain. 237,8826/ 1925 Great Britain.

